Campaigners bid for ship's return

The ship was built in 1864 to transport people to Australia

Campaigners are hoping to persuade museum bosses in Scotland that a historic clipper ship can be returned to its Wearside home.

The City of Adelaide, which pre-dates the Cutty Sark, was built at Sunderland in 1864 and is now berthed at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Ayrshire.

A team of engineers is visiting the vessel - also known as The Carrick - to assess whether it can be safely moved.

Campaigners hope the ship can be turned into a maritime museum in Sunderland.

The vessel has been rotting away on the quayside in Irvine since 1992 because of a lack of funding to restore it.

But now there is added pressure because the land on which the ship rests is earmarked for development.

It would cost an estimated £20m to restore the vessel

The Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Foundation (SCARF) is raising funds to transport the ship back to Sunderland, where it is estimated £20m would be needed for a full restoration.

It claims it already has enough cash to return to the vessel to the River Wear.

Foundation spokesman Peter Maddison said: "Engineers are going to carry out a detailed survey of the ship so within a couple of days we will have exact scientific evidence of its condition.

"We cannot allow this beautiful ship to be broken up.

"When we have her back in Sunderland we will be starting a full restoration so that once again the River Wear will have one of the maritime wonders of the world."

The man heading the ship's deconstruction committee, Sam Galbraith, has said he would be happy to hand the ship over to the foundation if they have sufficient funds.